Letting-in tool for oil and gas well appliances



Jan. 29, 1929. r p I P. H. MACK I mwxnG u-woor. ponvox n AND GAS wnm.APPLIANCES 1 Filed Jan. 2 1924 mveuvoh rams] Jan. 29, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Application filed January 2t), 1924. Serial No. 689,806.

4 This invention is for a letting-in.tool for use in connection with oiland gas well packers, liner supports and other a pliances.

In the setting of liners and pac ers, it is 5 desirable to lower theminto the well, Ina-- nipulate them to manipulate the expandingsupporting devices, and then disconnect and withdraw the letting-intools. A common practice has been to lower the packer or liner supportinto the well on a rigid stem made of sections of pi e, and thendisconnect the.

string of pipe rom the liner packer, and withdraw it. In my applicationSerial No. 655,017, filed support or .15 Augustl, 1923, I have discloseda support for liners ,or packers which may be set in the 'well by beinglowered with the ordinary string of tools and a cable.

The present invention has for its object to provide a letting-in tool,by means of which packer or support becoming detached pre-.

-maturely, even though it should temporarily become hung in the well orshould its downward movement be impeded by a rising current of gas oroil. The invention may be readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings,

in which:

Fig. 1 represents a sectional view through a liner support, showing theletting-in de'vice embodying my invention applied thereto;

tool; I q

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a slightly modi Fig. 5 isa side view of afrangible key used in connection with my letting-in tool. :In thedrawings, 5' designates the tubular body of a liner support or packer. Ihave illustrated a'liner support, but it will be obvi'ousthattheflinvention would be the same were it applied to-a packer, and that,so far I as the present invention is concerned, they are equivalent.

', Screwed onto the upper threaded endof 1 .5.. the body 5 is a collar 6having a central openslot 12 in the otherleg of the device.

Fig. '2 is a side elevation of the letting in ing a; 7, in which is ashoulder 8. In using my invention, a key9, shown in elevation in Flg. 5,is laid across the top of the tubular body 5 before the collar 6 isscrewed into place. When the-collar is then screwed on, this key 'isconfined between the top (If body 5 and the shoulder 8. The key ispreferab nade of brittle iron or steel, and is nicked at its center inthe bottom, as indicated at 10, the cross wardly and having a threadedextension 13 at its upper. end, by means ofwhich it may be screwed ontothe bottom of the usual string of drilling tools. One of the' legscarries a transverse key engaging. member 14. As shown in theconstruction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive; this membercomprises a bar 14 having one end pivoted at 15 and a slot 12. in oneleg of the device. The other end of bar 14 is tapered on its upper side,and projects, when in its horizontal position, into a The lower end ofslot 12 provides a stop to prevent the bar from moving down below ahorizontal position, while both slots 12 and. 12 are so formed as topermit the bar toswing upinto a non-vertical position, as indicated 86in dotted lines in Fig. 2. In this position, i there is just barelyroomlfor the legs to be passed down over key 9.

In use, the lettmgin'tool is passed down i .into opening 7 of collar 6.The legs strado drops back to the horizontal position, because 5 of itsbeing out of balance. I The, parts are then in the position shown inFig. 1, and the packer or linersupport' I may be sus "ended fromtheletting-in tool by Jkey Qand ar 14. When the packer or sup- '10.

port has been set, as described for instance in my said co-pendingapplication, and it is. desirable to withdraw theletting-in tooL thebody 11, together with the heavy stringiof tools from which it hangs islifted as far as permitted by the key 9 and bar14, and then suddenlydropped.

j The body 11 at the juncture of the legs -"with the body is rounded,as'at 11". Wherr the body 11 and the drilling tools drop, the no 'asubstantial vertical movement between key 9 and the part 11*, therounded part 11 hits the key 9 at its weakest point above the notch,breaking the'key, then disconnecting the letting-in tool and the packer.By reason-of surface .11 being curved, the full force of the blow isdirected on one point of the 'key.

If the packer sticks in the well while being lowered, it ispractically'impossible for key 9 to work around to a point where itmight later slide out past bar 14, if the latter,

through some cause. such as high gas pressure, should be lifted. Inother words, accidental disconnection is practically impossiblel Key 9can also be made sufficiently strong tostand a considerable jar beforebreaking, so that danger of premature breakingof key 9 is not likel Inthe modification sliown in Fig. 4;, 16 is the body having legs 17 and18, and having an upper threaded extension 19. Leg 17 is relativelyheavy, and has a hook 20 at its lower end, whose bottom face is inclinedupwardly toward the outer point of the hook, while the top surface ofthe hook is inclined downwardly toward the leg which carries it. Leg 18,which does not carry the load, is relatively light and resilient. Thisleg has a slot 18 into which the point of hook 20 normally prujects. At21 is the rounded part corresponding'to port 11 of the firstconstruction.

The width of the letting-in tool across the legs is suilieient to enablethe leg 18 to spread when the legs via-re inside hole 7 just enough toenable the llooli to be forced down over 1 key 9. I

The operation of the modified form is similar to that of the. firstconstruction. The inclined bottom of the hook facilitates the forcing ofthe hook over the key. After the letting-in ,tool is in place, the keyis guided in close to leg 17, so that there is no danger of the keyforcing the device open.

, cooperation withmeans on the well appliance,

and a convexedareinforcement'on said body between the upper parts of thelegs.

2. A letting-in toolfor well appliances comprising a body having jointforming means on its upper end, a longitudinal key receiving slot in thelower end, means for normally closing the lower end of the slot, and afrangible key slidably received in the slot, the surface of the body atthe upper end of the slot being convexed to provide a striking elementfor the frangible key.

- 3. The combination with an appliance for wells having a removablecollar at its upper; end in which is a shoulder, of a one-piecefrangible key on the upper end of the appliance retained inplace'bysaidcolla-r, and a letting-in tool comprising a body having alongitudinally bifurcated lower portion inserted in the collar, said keyextending tlir'oughthe bifurcation in said body, means for normallyclosing the bifurcated part at the extreme lower end thereof, saidletting-in tool having a limited longitudinal movement with respect tothe key by means of such bifurcation, a reinforced convex frangible keystriking element on the letting-in tool, and means on the letting-intool for connecting it to a string of tools.

4. The combinatio n with anappliance for wells having a removablecollarat its upper end in which is a shoulder, of a frangible keyweakened at its center on the upper end of ing-a reinforced convexedstriking portion at the upper end of the bifurcated partthereof theappliance retained in place by said collar,

at the point above the key, said letting-in tool having a limitedlongitudinal movement with respect to the keyv by means of suchbifurcation, and means on the letting-in tool for connecting itto astring of tools.

5. In an appliance for wells, a tubular body, a single piece of metaldisposed across one end thereof constituting a frangible key,

a collar detach'ably secured on said body and holding the key in place,a letting-in tool bar'- lng an elongated slot through which the keypasses, and means preventing movement of" the key downwardly out of saidslot, the elongation of the slot enabling the letting-in tool to bedropped'so that a part thereof will ongage and fracture said key.

6. In an appliance for wells, in combination with a tubular body, asingle piece of metal disposed across one end thereof constituting afrangible key, said key having a weakened portion, a collar detac hablysecured on said body and holding the key in place,.a bifurcatedletting-in tool having said key disposed transversely in thebifurcation, and means preventing downward movement of the key ,out-ofthe bifurcation, the letting-in tool at the closed end of thebifurcation and in line with the aforesald weakened portion-being shapedto impart the full force of a blow to said'weakened portion, theelongation of the slot enabling the letting-in tool to be dropped toeffect the aforesaid blowand thereby frac' ture'said key. a

In testimony-whereof I affix I signature. PATRICK I -ll MACK.

